The clinching argument in BS Yeddyurappa's acquittal

A special court acquitted BS Yeddyurappa and others in the Rs 40 crore bribery case

Bengaluru, Oct 26: It was done within a matter of five minutes. The CBI court while acquitting former Chief Minister, B S Yeddyurappa said there was no evidence and the prosecution had failed to establish the guilt.

While only the operative portion of the order was read out, advocates arguing for Yeddyurappa state that there were several factors that went into the order of acquittal.

Senior Counsel, CV Nagesh who argued the case for Yeddyurappa explained to OneIndia that the question of bribe did not arise. "The government had taken a decision to ban mining altogether. So where is the question of giving a bribe," he argued before the court.

The then Lokayukta had given a report to the government seeking a ban on illegal export of iron ore.

Further at the special session in Belagavi all legislators had unitedly said that immediate action must be taken to prevent export of iron ore illegally. Even the central government had sought to know from the state government about what steps were taken to stop illegal export of iron ore. The government under Yeddyurappa acted on this and banned mining.

"When this is the case, how can allegations of bribe be made. A bribe for what," Nagesh asked while debunking the CBI's theory that a kickback was paid by JSW steel in return of a favour.

Further on the denotification of land, Nagesh says that this was an island. The CBI had said that the land at Rachenahalli was denotified by the government to JSW steel affiliates for Rs 20 crore. This according to the CBI was done to cover up the bribe on behalf of the steel firm.

The CBI says that the land was acquired illegally and the same was made possible by misusing Yeddyurappa's official position as Chief Minister.

Nagesh says that the land in question at Rachenahalli falls under survey number 52/1. He says that there is 130 acres of land around this property. "This one is right in the middle. All the land around it had been denotified by the previous governments headed by S M Krishna, Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy. How can one point to this one acre and blame Yeddyurappa for it. The CBI was wrong in stating that this was denotified to cover up the bribe amount," Nagesh also states.